UConn women savor Big East title

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT), Rich Elliott STAFF WRITER

Published 1:00 am, Monday, March 2, 2009

The question was a straightforward one Saturday.

Tina Charles
asked coach
Geno Auriemma
where she should store the Big East regular season trophy. In the high stakes world that the top-ranked Huskies reside, earning a regular season trophy can be regarded as somewhat of a minor achievement.
Since winning the first of its five national championships in 1995, seasons have been judged by what UConn does in the postseason, and not necessarily what it does during the regular season. Charles certainly wasn't taking this championship for granted. But it was the 17th time in the last 21 seasons the Huskies have been presented with such a trophy.
"I just hope we don't lose it," Auriemma said. "In some of the renovations that we've done over the years, I will go into the training room to get shorts to work out in and I found one (trophy) like under a whole bunch of socks. It had been in there for like six years. Some teams would have it in their trophy case in their hallway, and we have it under a laundry box. You have to be careful you don't lose sight of what these are. These are pretty important."
Auriemma made it a point to tell his players how significant winning the conference regular season championship should be. It is a conference that is rated No. 3 by CollegeRPI.com, behind the Big 12 and the ACC, and has four teams ranked in the Top 25 in both national polls.
Senior

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said that she didn't give the championship a great deal of thought until Auriemma spoke about it in the locker room. Keeping an eye on the greater goal is important, but losing sight of other things along the way is something that Auriemma feels needs to be avoided.
"I think you have to (remind them) or it just kind of gets glossed over as one more thing on the way to something," Auriemma said.
"Now, unless the word Final Four is attached to anything that comes out of someone's mouth, it's not that exciting. It can't be like that. You can't just run past things that are really important to get to something down the road that may not even be there. What if it isn't there at the end? Then you have lost the opportunity to really enjoy these things along the way. Don't be satisfied, but don't completely overlook it."
FINE SEATS -- Seton Hall wanted no part of watching UConn's Senior Night ceremony Saturday night at the

XL Center
.
Coach Phyllis Mangina
had her team in the locker room. But as Rutgers honored
Kia Vaughn
and Heather Zurich Monday night, Auriemma made sure the Huskies were present to take in the festivities.
"I want our guys to see the way other people do it and how other people react," Auriemma said Saturday night. "I want them to experience that. These are kids they have played against for four years. Why not be a part of it. If we're down 12 at halftime I'm going to be (mad) I did that, but I'm hoping that doesn't happen."